A cultural treasure returns to Orange County next week, marking a new period in its renowned history. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958; it was a company for all types of dancers – black, white, Hispanic, Asian.
Childhood memories can whirls just as dancers do, undulating or striking like ocean waves we miss but long to be part of again. Dancers make indelible impressions on children, even if the child never wants to be a dancer.
In this month of February during his traditional stopover in Atlanta, the company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will present two new choreographies: "Arden Court" by Paul Taylor and "Home" by Rennie Harris.
One of Gary's native sons made a return to his Steel City roots during a modern dance performance at the West Side High School recently. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson presented Renaldo Gardner, a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company in NEw York, with the key to the city before an auditorium filled with students from several Gary elementary and high schools.
New beginnings often contain built-in excitement, but there was an extra note of promise in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's program Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House.
Renaldo Gardner, 21, returned to his hometown Wednesday as a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company, reuniting with former dance instructors and doing a special solo performance at West Side Leadership Academy auditorium during a matinee show by Ailey II which also performed Tuesday night.
The woman with the umbrella wades through blue ribbons of silk. Her hips roll like waves, mimicking the movement of water. Her body stretches, long and liquid, as if pulled by an invisible tension.
When Jacqueline Green's mom encouraged her to audition for the dance program at Baltimore School for the Arts, she did - on a whim. By pure serendipity, she was accepted.
Hailed as an international ambassador for African-American culture, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founded in 1958, begins its 27-city North American tour in Toronto under the new direction of Robert Battle.
One of Robert Battle's first dance memories involves moving to the song That's Entertainment. Little did he know how prophetic that title was.